It can be desirable, and at times urgent, to determine whether or not a person of interest is present in a particular location. When a person wishes to communicate some information to another person at a remote location, there may be several ways to make contact. Some common methods include making a telephone call, sending an e-mail message, sending an instant message, etc. When making a telephone call, for example, the audible signals that are fed back to the caller can be indicative of the presence of the person being called. Presence indications may be as simple as a busy signal on the telephone, indicating that the person is present at the location and the phone is in use. When the phone continues to ring without someone answering, this can be an indication that no one is present at the location.
Sending an e-mail message usually does not provide the sender with an indication of the receiver's presence, unless the receiver responds immediately. However, some e-mail programs allow someone who is away for an extended time to generate an automatic return message indicating that he or she is not present. With most instant messaging (IM) programs, an indication is usually provided for informing the sender whether or not a person of interest is actively working on his or her computer or whether the computer is idle, on or off, etc.
When repeated attempts to track down a person of interest are unsuccessful using conventional communication equipment, it can be difficult to determine the presence of the person. The consequence of being unable to contact a person can be frustrating, and, at times, urgent information cannot be communicated to the person. The embodiments described in the present invention address and overcome the inadequacies of the conventional systems to provide improved systems and methods for determining presence of a person of interest.